Liberal Arts and Long-Term Success

As the previous post suggests, the liberal arts are valuable for those interested in excelling in ... well, being human. Many students and their parents, however, think that the liberal arts aren’t as helpful when it comes to excelling in high-paying jobs and career success. A recent report on earnings and long-term career paths for uni graduates suggests otherwise. “The report compares earnings trajectories and career pathways for liberal arts majors with the earnings trajectories and career pathways for those majoring in science and mathematics, engineering, and professional or pre-professional fields like business or education.” As it turns out, the former actually do better financially than the latter over the course of their working careers. One of the key findings: At peak earnings ages, liberal arts graduates “earn annually on average about $2000 more than those who majored as undergraduates in professional or pre-professional fields.” One possible explanation for this is that liberal arts graduates tend to be selected for leadership positions as they progress through their careers. That might be due not only to their critical thinking skills but also to the emotional knowledge they developed through reading good literature!